


Summer Festival

by Zorua_Illusion



Series: Genyatta Week Summer 2017 [4]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cooking, FRIENDSHIP!!!, Genyatta Week Summer, seriously this is more about cooking than the actual festival oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 07:19:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11352567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zorua_Illusion/pseuds/Zorua_Illusion
Summary: A party is a party, no matter where they're from.





	Summer Festival

**Author's Note:**

> 29 Summer Festival:  
> "Most of us aren't even American..."  
> "Yeah, but McCree said he got Genji to cook for it."  
> "Well damn."

“Why are we celebrating the 4th of July again? Most of us aren’t even American…” Hana trailed off, confused.

It was true – McCree was the sole organizer of the event, purchasing various materials since early May in order for a barbeque large enough for whoever joined. Once they picked up Jack in early June, the soldier helped McCree gather materials whenever they were on base. It’s not that the others didn’t want to help, but McCree and 76 had gotten a little bit testy whenever someone tried, so they backed off.

Lucio shrugged. “Beats me. But McCree said he got Genji to help cook for it, and I’m not gonna miss out on his cooking.”

“Well damn,” Hana stated, impressed. She and the cyborg were friends – at least, as near as she could tell – so she knew exactly how good of a chef Genji was. And how rarely he cooked.

He had shrugged when she demanded him to explain why he didn’t cook more after he had made a meal for the base shortly after the one on one training sessions had been set up. It had been one of the best things she had ever eaten, and why wouldn’t he use this talent more often? “I do not need to eat, nor Zenyatta or any of the Shambali. Utensils and such were not available often on the road, and Zenyatta’s students cooked for themselves. Now it is just habit to let someone else cook, or there’s no time.”

Hana had to admit he had a point. Ever since their roster had grown, so had their to-do list. She hardly had time for streams anymore, and the way Genji prepared food could take hours, sometimes.

But Lucio was right – even if they didn’t quite celebrate the holiday, any excuse to eat Genji’s cooking was fine in their book.

Genji, meanwhile, was already hard at work with preparing the various meats and vegetables that had been bought to be grilled. He only had some experience with barbeque, but McCree and Jack knew enough to do the bulk of the actual barbeque. Both of them, however, lacked in the ability to do any prep work for most of the food – Jack always made his food too bland for most of the people on base, and McCree always made his too spicy. So Genji tried to make the best of both worlds: a subtle kick of spice that was satisfying but not overpowering. He had already made the marinade for the meat that required it far earlier and the bags were currently sitting in the fridge as he worked on everything else.

Zenyatta had actually floated in shortly after the marinating meat was put into the fridge. “Ah, helping McCree and Soldier with their hopes of a barbeque, Genji?”

Genji hummed and nodded an affirmative. “Keeping up morale is important, especially with as high as it is currently. I think this will help.” He paused in his actions for a moment, tilting his head. “And I missed cooking.”

Zenyatta chuckled at the honesty. “Is there any way I may help you?”

“There’s always plenty to do back here,” Genji replied. “Could you help me with the produce?”

There were three industrial sized sinks in the kitchen. Genji plugged the drain of one before turning on the faucet, adding salt to the water as the sink filled. He placed the corn in the water, careful not to let it splash up before moving on to chopping onions. Zenyatta, meanwhile, was washing the potatoes before setting them in the other compartment to be wrapped or cut later. After that task was complete, he grabbed a plastic dish and used the same sink to fill it with water before grabbing the multiple packages bamboo skewers Genji had set out earlier and setting them to soak. By this point, Genji had moved on to cutting the various colors of peppers they had set out. In his “next” tray was a large bag of tomatoes, so Zenyatta got to tearing the lettuce heads. When he was done, he placed the leaves in Genji’s “next” tray (which was almost empty of tomatoes now) and threw away the cores and the scraps.

After that, everything was pretty much ready. Zenyatta and Genji carried out plates and trays filled with utensils and produce, setting them up in the large area decorated for the occasion. The reason why this room, specifically, was picked was easily seen through glass doors: a wide open balcony was attached, and an old propane grill was smoldering as it came up to temperature. McCree and Morrison stood nearby, having a conversation with a bottle of beer in hand. They delivered the various meats – hot dogs, hamburger patties, chicken, some bratwurst, and some steaks and vegetarian replacements were all placed on a table beside the grill. The two men extended their thanks to Genji and Zenyatta for helping them as they got to work setting up the grill, conversation switching to “hot dog go on the racks, Morrison, not the grill proper” and “the buns go on the racks, McCree, not the hot dogs”. Genji shook his head and laughed. Zenyatta also chuckled at the friendly bickering before turning to Genji.

“Would you help me with the desserts, little sparrow? I think that McCree and Soldier 76 were caught up in preparing the barbeque itself to think about it.”

“Of course. What are we making?” The two once again disappeared into the depths of the kitchen, which had been graciously cleaned by Hana, Lucio, and Tracer (their contribution to the gathering) in their absence.

“Pies,” Zenyatta replies. Genji felt his eyebrows raise, but said nothing as the omnic pulled out four bags of apples; two of the bags held the fruit that was a mix of red and yellow coloring, and the other two were full of green apples. Next are two peelers and two kitchen knives, a set being placed on both cutting boards.

“What about the crust?” Genji asks.

Zenyatta nods towards the refrigerator. “I made the dough last night. All that’s left to do is making the filling and then baking it.”

“Ah, I had wondered where you were.” It was true – when Genji had come back from D.Va’s stream, Zenyatta was not in their shared room, but when Genji woke up, he was. Genji did not think it was of great importance that Zenyatta had disrupted his usual routine of knitting, seeing as he had finished the project he had been working on the night before.

“And now you know,” Zenyatta said calmly, smiling at him as he briefly looked away from where he was peeling.

In short order the apples are tossed into a bowl with cinnamon and sugar as Genji mixed them all together. Zenyatta, meanwhile, had prepared the four pie tins and cut the remaining dough into strips. Genji carefully divided the apples among the pans and Zenyatta followed him down the line, quickly but neatly weaving the dough strips to form a lattice work over the filling. Each of them grabbed two of the pans before sliding them in the oven and settling down to wait.

“How do you think the festival will go?” Genji asked Zenyatta while they waited.

The omnic paused before giving his response. “I think it will go well. Most of the team gets along outside of the battlefield, after all.”

Genji hums, not sure as how to continue the conversation. Zenyatta seems to have no issue with this, switching topics to talk about the movie the two had watched a few nights ago about man and his magical beasts. The idle conversation continued until Zenyatta straightened and walked to the oven to remove the pies. Genji grabbed some oven mitts and picked up two, following Zenyatta as the omnic led the way back to the large ballroom where the gathering was held.

McCree and Morrison had really gotten to work – the hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, and chicken were already done and by the looks of things the steaks were almost ready too. The tables were laden with other foods – contributions from the other team members – and the rest of the team was slowly trickling in. Winston even brought a holoscreen for Athena to be part of the festivities.

Genji sat in a slight amount of awe. For once, everyone was getting along with nary an issue. It might be because of the fact that this was McCree’s idea – no one wanted to disappoint the cowboy, not with how friendly he was – or maybe it was the fact that the people who didn’t like each other had some decorum and just interacted minimally. Either way, it was impressive that no spats broke out beyond that of a friendly argument.

Eventually, though, the amount of people was just… too much. Genji excused himself from the conversation and left for his and Zenyatta’s shared room, settling among the Pachimaris and pillows.

“Agent Genji, are you alright?” Athena asked, ever-watchful as always.

“I am fine, Athena. I am only tired.”

“Rest well, Agent Genji. I will divert the other agents should they try to bother you.”

“Thank you.”

Genji dozed on the pillows for a time, in a state that wasn’t quite sleep and wasn’t quite awake either. He perked up when he heard the door open, knowing it could only be one other person since Athena was on his side.

Zenyatta stood there with two cups in hand. “May I come in?” he asks calmly.

Genji pats the pillow beside him. “Of course.” His tries to clear the gravelly tone out of his voice, thicker than usual because of sleepiness.

Zenyatta hands him one of the cups. “It is a shame that in his excitement, McCree almost forgot about those who could not eat. I think he forgets, sometimes, that you cannot eat solid food.”

Genji shrugs. “There was a lot going on for him. Besides, I had fun cooking, and it was impressive to see everyone getting along for once.” He takes a sip and has to laugh.

Zenyatta had made him an apple pie milkshake.

Zenyatta’s smiling, and if Genji’s reading him right the omnic is a little bit bashful.

“I take it you enjoy it?”

Genji leans against him, feeling the unconditional support from the omnic. “Immensely. Thank you, Zenyatta.”

“You’re welcome, Sparrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact 1: I just spent about half a page describing Genji’s cooking ability. Because reasons.  
> Fun Fact 2: Zenyatta and Genji have definitely cooked together before. But they have roles elsewhere a lot of the time and so hardly ever do it despite the fact that they’re the best chefs (or at least up there) in the Watchpoint.  
> Fun Fact 3: This is actually based in my experience of 4th of July – it’s the holiday party my immediate family hosts (almost) every year. Barbeque and potatoes are provided by us, as well as location, but all the sides and drinks are brought by other people. A lot of what I remember is the prep work so that really shows here (with 3 pages dedicated solely to the prep).  
> Fun Fact 4: Zenyatta bakes more than he cooks; he likes learning the recipes from his students that have been passed down. Genji cooks more than he bakes; he enjoys experimenting with different ingredients and flavors that he saw and tasted in his travels.  
> Fun Fact 5: Genji peeled and cut his apples as he worked through them. Zenyatta peeled all of them first before cutting them.   
> Fun Fact 6: Zenyatta doesn’t require oven mitts in my universe because he can turn off the temperature/pain sensors in his hands. He doesn’t like doing it except to pull things out of the oven and the like. Genji, however, requires them because his sensors function more like nerves due to Angela wanting him to be as human as possible.  
> Fun Fact 7: I hope you guys appreciate this long one making up for the past two short ones, seeing as I don’t have any fall back one shots. I literally finished this one at 3:30 am on Thursday so blame that for any grammar errors.


End file.
